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How Germany’s wartime bunkers are being reborn

How Germany’s wartime bunkers are being reborn

Indestructible architecture

A bunker in Bremen, converted into house by architect Rainer Mielke

Seventy years after World War Two and 26 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Germany is still riddled with bunkers. Built during the Third Reich and the Cold War eras, they have proved either indestructible or too difficult to demolish without putting other buildings in peril.

In 2007 the German government decided to sell around 2,000 of the bunkers privately, prompting investors and architects to dream up all manner of new uses. Below are some of the most interesting adaptive reuse projects to date, including the most recent: the Vivos ‘doomsday bunker’…

Residential Housing, Bremen
These air-raid-shelters-turned-residences are the brainchild of architect Rainer Mielke, who lives in one himself. He has transformed another 13 or so into working or living spaces, which all differ vastly. One block of flats, for example, blends in neatly with nearby residences while another maintains a raw, concrete aesthetic.

Residential Housing, Bremen
These air-raid-shelters-turned-residences are the brainchild of architect Rainer Mielke, who lives in one himself. He has transformed another 13 or so into working or living spaces, which all differ vastly. One block of flats, for example, blends in neatly with nearby residences while another maintains a raw, concrete aesthetic.

Residential Housing, Bremen
These air-raid-shelters-turned-residences are the brainchild of architect Rainer Mielke, who lives in one himself. He has transformed another 13 or so into working or living spaces, which all differ vastly. One block of flats, for example, blends in neatly with nearby residences while another maintains a raw, concrete aesthetic.

Wohnen im Bunker, Cologne
This above-ground WWII bunker was transformed from a grotty, graffiti-splattered structure in Cologne into a desirable housing complex by Luczak Architekten. The 17 loft-style apartments feature large windows and terraces, as well as flexible floor plans, internal atriums and gardens.
Photography: Constantin Meyer, Köln

Wohnen im Bunker, Cologne
This above-ground WWII bunker was transformed from a grotty, graffiti-splattered structure in Cologne into a desirable housing complex by Luczak Architekten. The 17 loft-style apartments feature large windows and terraces, as well as flexible floor plans, internal atriums and gardens.
Photography: Constantin Meyer, Köln

Wohnen im Bunker, Cologne
This above-ground WWII bunker was transformed from a grotty, graffiti-splattered structure in Cologne into a desirable housing complex by Luczak Architekten. The 17 loft-style apartments feature large windows and terraces, as well as flexible floor plans, internal atriums and gardens.
Photography: Constantin Meyer, Köln

Cultural Cargo Dock, Frankfurt
What to do with a bunker that’s too expensive to bulldoze but not near a residential neighbourhood? Index Architekten hit on the idea of creating a large wooden box atop the WWII building. It houses artists’ studios and the Institute for New Media.

Cultural Cargo Dock, Frankfurt
What to do with a bunker that’s too expensive to bulldoze but not near a residential neighbourhood? Index Architekten hit on the idea of creating a large wooden box atop the WWII building. It houses artists’ studios and the Institute for New Media.

Übel & Gefährlich (Evil & Dangerous), Hamburg
The six floors of this looming flak tower in Hamburg’s St Pauli district have been neatly transformed turned into a creative complex that spans a radio station, music studios and one of Hamburg’s best known electronic music clubs. Architects are currently planning a garden on top of the bunker.
Photography: Katja Ruge

Übel & Gefährlich (Evil & Dangerous), Hamburg
The six floors of this looming flak tower in Hamburg’s St Pauli district have been neatly transformed turned into a creative complex that spans a radio station, music studios and one of Hamburg’s best known electronic music clubs. Architects are currently planning a garden on top of the bunker.
Photography: Katja Ruge

Übel & Gefährlich (Evil & Dangerous), Hamburg
The six floors of this looming flak tower in Hamburg’s St Pauli district have been neatly transformed turned into a creative complex that spans a radio station, music studios and one of Hamburg’s best known electronic music clubs. Architects are currently planning a garden on top of the bunker.
Photography: Stefanie Hochmuth

Übel & Gefährlich (Evil & Dangerous), Hamburg
The six floors of this looming flak tower in Hamburg’s St Pauli district have been neatly transformed turned into a creative complex that spans a radio station, music studios and one of Hamburg’s best known electronic music clubs. Architects are currently planning a garden on top of the bunker.
Photography: Stefanie Hochmuth

Übel & Gefährlich (Evil & Dangerous), Hamburg
The six floors of this looming flak tower in Hamburg’s St Pauli district have been neatly transformed turned into a creative complex that spans a radio station, music studios and one of Hamburg’s best known electronic music clubs. Architects are currently planning a garden on top of the bunker.
Photography: Stefanie Hochmuth

Bunker Valentin, Bremen
Situated about 40 kilometres from the North Sea coast, this enormous WWII structure was built to house a submarine assembly plant. Despite around 2,000 forced labourers losing their lives here, not a single submarine was produced. Defunct for decades, it was turned into a memorial to the horrors and hubris of fascism in 2011.
Photography: Harald Schwörer, photein.de

Energy Bunker, Hamburg
This flak tower found a new purpose during the 2013 IBA Hamburg as a renewable energy plant. Once capable of sheltering around 30,000 people, the building now contains a heating and solar thermal system that supplies around 3,000 households throughout the Wilhelmsburg area. A rooftop café offers a suitably industrial interior and panoramic views.

Energy Bunker, Hamburg
This flak tower found a new purpose during the 2013 IBA Hamburg as a renewable energy plant. Once capable of sheltering around 30,000 people, the building now contains a heating and solar thermal system that supplies around 3,000 households throughout the Wilhelmsburg area. A rooftop café offers a suitably industrial interior and panoramic views.

Sammlung Boros, Berlin
Architectural firm Realarchitektur did a stellar job transforming this air-raid shelter into a gallery showcasing the private art collection of advertising mogul Christian Boros. Originally constructed to shelter around 3,000 people, it now hosts around 3,000 sq m of exhibition space, plus a 500 sq m rooftop extension where Boros and his family reside.

Sammlung Boros, Berlin
Architectural firm Realarchitektur did a stellar job transforming this air-raid shelter into a gallery showcasing the private art collection of advertising mogul Christian Boros. Originally constructed to shelter around 3,000 people, it now hosts around 3,000 sq m of exhibition space, plus a 500 sq m rooftop extension where Boros and his family reside.
Pictured: Works by Danh Vo. Photography: NOSHE

Sammlung Boros, Berlin
Architectural firm Realarchitektur did a stellar job transforming this air-raid shelter into a gallery showcasing the private art collection of advertising mogul Christian Boros. Originally constructed to shelter around 3,000 people, it now hosts around 3,000 sq m of exhibition space, plus a 500 sq m rooftop extension where Boros and his family reside.
Pictured: Works by Cerith Wyn Evans. Photography: NOSHE